An illustration of the Sun and planets

Solar System Exploration


Join us as we explore our planetary neighborhood: The Sun, planets, moons, comets, and asteroids.

Solar System Overview

The solar system has one star, eight planets, five officially named dwarf planets, hundreds of moons, thousands of comets, and more than a million asteroids.

Our solar system is located in the Milky Way, a barred spiral galaxy with two major arms, and two minor arms. Our Sun is in a small, partial arm of the Milky Way called the Orion Arm, or Orion Spur, between the Sagittarius and Perseus arms. Our solar system orbits the center of the galaxy at about 515,000 mph (828,000 kph). It takes about 230 million years to complete one orbit around the galactic center.

We call it the solar system because it is made up of our star, the Sun, and everything bound to it by gravity.

Get the latest count

  • Illustration of the Solar System.

    Moons, asteroids, and comets

    For the most up to date count of moons, asteroids, and comets in our solar system, please visit NASA/JPL's Solar System Dynamics website.

exploring jupiter's ocean world

Launching Soon: Europa Clipper

NASA's Europa Clipper is launching Oct. 10, 2024, on the first mission to conduct a detailed science investigation of Jupiter's moon Europa. 

Learn More About Europa Clipper
Jupiter's moon Europa with an illustration of the Europa Clipper spacecraft in front of it.

Help Celebrate the Launch!

  1. 01

    Host a Launch Party

    Get ready to experience a once-in-a-lifetime event as NASA's Europa Clipper mission takes flight! This historic mission will explore Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, and you’re invited to host your very own watch party to share the excitement with friends, family, and fellow space enthusiasts. We’ve got everything you need to make your launch celebration out of this world.

    Visit Our Launch Party Hub

  2. An illustration calling for participation in a NASA public engagement activity for the Europa Clipper launch. This illustration has a pale blue background with outlines of narrow stars drawn in red, gold, and blue. It says Share Your Space Style, #RunwayToJupiter NASA Style Challenge. Enter by Oct. 10, 2024
    02

    #RunwayToJupiter Style Challenge

    Express your space style! Show off your outfits, makeup looks, nail art, and other creative expressions inspired by Jupiter's swirls, Europa's icy glam, and the exploration of the planets. Share your look with the hashtag #RunwayToJupiter for a chance to be featured on NASA’s website and social media channels.

    How to Participate

  3. A bright blue graphic with images cut in to promote NASA's Social Media Toolkit for the launch of Europa Clipper. It has seven small images related to the launch. It has the words Join Our Social Space in white lettering.
    03

    Get the Social Media Toolkit

    If you’re interested in sharing content about Europa Clipper on social media, this is your space!

    Get the Toolkit

  4. A woman points to a poster as a woman and child look on from across the table.
    04

    More Ways to Participate

    Explore this page for mission updates, activities, spacecraft models, posters, stickers, animations, and more. This content is suitable for educators, students, and anyone interested in the Europa Clipper mission.

    Explore Ways to Participate

Eyes on the Solar System: A real-time visualization of our solar system using planetary science data.
NASA/JPL-Caltech

Hubble Tours the Solar System

More About Hubble
upper left: Jupiter, upper right: Saturn, lower left: Uranus, lower right: Neptune

Hubble’s Grand Tour of the Outer Solar System

Watch the Video
An orb with alternating diagonal bands of white, red, and orange is shown with a black sky in the background.

The Outer Planets: Hubble’s Continuing Legacy

Watch the Video
Hubble Focus-Our Amazing Solar System e-book cover

Hubble Focus: Our Amazing Solar System

Download the E-Book

10 THINGS about our solar system

This is an updated montage of planetary images taken by spacecraft managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA. Included are from top to bottom images of Mercury, Venus, Earth and Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

1. Many Worlds

Our solar system has eight planets, and five dwarf planets.

Gray-colored asteroid Bennu is shaped like a spinning top.

2. Small Worlds, Too

About 1.4 million asteroids, and about 4,000 comets are in our solar system.

3. Lots of Moons

Our solar system has more than 200 planetary moons.

A swirling Milky Way Galaxy, with our Sun seen on the outskirts.

4. Meet Me in the Milky Way

Our solar system is in one of the Milky Way galaxy’s spiral arms called the Orion Spur.

Sun and planets in solar system

5. A Long Way Around

Our solar system takes about 230 million years to orbit the galactic center.

Spitzer Milky Way 1600px

6. Spiraling Through Space

The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy.

The blue limb of Earth as viewed from the space station.

7. Room to Breathe

Our solar system has many worlds with many types of atmospheres.

8. Ring Worlds

The four giant planets – and at least one asteroid – have rings.

Man in the moon with American flag

9. Getting Out There

More than 300 robotic spacecraft have left Earth's orbit, and 24 U.S. astronauts have traveled to the Moon.

Earth blue marble photo

10. Life as We Know It

So far, Earth is the only place we've found life in our solar system.

Featured Missions

Explore our solar system with NASA. Here are some of our upcoming missions.

All NASA Science Missions
A spacecraft hovers over a reddish striped moon with planet Jupiter in the background.

Europa Clipper

NASA's Europa Clipper is launching Oct. 10, 2024, on the first mission to conduct a detailed science investigation of Jupiter's moon Europa.

Read More
NASA's NEO Surveyor is seen in this illustration against an infrared observation of a starfield made by the agency's WISE mission.

NEO Surveyor

Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor is the first space telescope specifically designed to hunt asteroids and comets that may be potential hazards to Earth.

Read More
A gray spacecraft is illustrated over Venus with one of its instruments scanning the planet below.

VERITAS

VERITAS, and another mission called DAVINCI, will be the first NASA spacecraft to explore Venus since the 1990s.

Read More

Solar System Feature Stories

Illustration of eight planets and one dwarf planet displayed three across and three down.

Planet Sizes and Locations

Read More
A colorful. symbolic thermometer showing planets in our solar system ordered from hottest a the top to coldest at the bottom. The top of the graphic is red, then it fades to orange, yellow, green, then blue. It has illustrations of the planets.

Temperatures Across the Solar System

Read More
animation of clouds moving around Saturn's pole in a hexagonal formation

Storms Across the Solar System

Read More
Pluto is reddish and has a heart shape lighter patch in the lower right half of this image from the New Horizons spacecraft.

Find Your Pluto Time

Read More
two rocky asteroids in black space

What's That Space Rock?

Read More
A full globe view of reddish Mars featuring Valles Marineris - which looks like a huge gash on the planet.

10 Things: Grand Canyons

Read More

Skywatching Tips

NASA's guide to the night skies.

Learn More
Moon rising over a white building with domes sitting on a hillside.

Go Beyond Our Solar System

Featured Story

NASA, Global Astronomers Await Rare Nova Explosion

Around the world this summer, professional and amateur astronomers alike will be fixed on one small constellation deep in the…

Read the Story

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Solar System News

News Release
8 min read

Cobertura de la NASA del lanzamiento de Europa Clipper a una luna de Júpiter

News Release
6 min read

NASA Sets Coverage for Europa Clipper Launch to Jupiter Moon

Article
1 min read

Gateway Stands Tall for Stress Test

Article
5 min read

NASA’s LRO: Lunar Ice Deposits are Widespread

Illustration of permanently shadowed regions near the lunar south pole.
A man looks through a telescope at twilight.
6 min read

What’s Up: October 2024 Skywatching Tips from NASA

Article4 days ago
Artist’s concept of Centaur 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 as seen from the side against a dark, mostly starless swath of space. The rocky, bilobed nucleus is toward the right and resembles the simplified shape of a peanut. The left side of the centaur is partially illuminated by the Sun, which is off-screen, revealing the nucleus’ light brown surface. Four jets of gas, depicted as translucent cones of white, emanate from various points on the Centaur’s surface and extend beyond the frame: two emanate upward from the top, one jet spews from the bottom and extends downward, and one jet emanates from the left side of the nucleus and extends toward the left. A label in the bottom left corner reads “Artist’s Concept.”
7 min read

NASA’s Webb Reveals Unusual Jets of Volatile Gas from Icy Centaur 29P

Article4 days ago
38 min read

Un viaje poético a la luna Europa

An illustration showing the trajectory of ESA’s Juice spacecraft during its lunar-Earth gravity assist, featuring a high-resolution ENA image of the million-degree hot plasma halo encircling Earth captured by NASA’s JENI instrument
4 min read

NASA’s Instruments Capture Sharpest Image of Earth’s Radiation Belt

Article5 days ago
Keep Exploring

Discover More Topics

Planets

A montage shows the planets to scale from Mercury on the left to Neptune on the right.

Eclipses

Image of a solar eclipse

Kuiper Belt

Illustration of spacecraft near a giant space rock far from the Sun.

Oort Cloud

This image shows comet C/2018 Y1 Iwamoto as imaged in multiple exposures of infrared light by NASA's Near-Earth Object Wide-field Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) space telescope.